The Enneagram and Our Two Stories
About 20 years ago, my friend Caroleigh Garner, who was a gifted enneagram teacher, told me that "we will all live two stories". One will be high-energy and aggressive and one will be slower, quiet and contemplative. She went on to say that to live a fulfilled existence, both stories must be experienced and embraced.
Being in my early 30’s, I knew immediately that I was living my high-energy story and had been doing so since I entered the work force. Working 80 hours a week in the corporate world did not seem to faze me. In fact, it energized me and I could not imagine slowing down. Could she be right?
I began to watch my contemporaries and close friends and found that people around me were indeed living one of these two stories. I wondered if there may be a specific age that I could expect to slow down or shift to my second story and a quieter way of living.
About 14 years ago I found Prairie Jubilee. The 2-year program trained people to become spiritual directors, but during the first year, students enter a 12-month phase of spiritual formation. That year of teachings was centred around the enneagram and how to integrate it consciously into your life.
I signed up. Under the guidance of three skilled leaders, I was immersed in a year in self-remembering and self-reflection. This time allowed me to not only understand myself better, but I also learned to pay attention to those enneagram patterns I had been learning about. The enneagram teachings were no longer a concept outside of me, they were now changing how I saw the world. They allowed me to see how I could live my “second story”.
If you are feeling that your high-energy story is no longer bringing you joy and that a slower life is calling you, you may want to take a look at the first year of Prairie Jubilee. The spiritual formation year of a new cycle begins in September.
You may not be looking for training to become a spiritual director, but if you feel an inner call to slow down and understanding yourself in a deeper way, taking the first year of Prairie Jubilee may be right for you.
If you are looking for a life-changing experience, Prairie Jubilee’s first year will stretch you and grow you in ways you never thought possible.
Is it time to live your second story?
Dale
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